Soldiers' Monument, (sculpture).

Soldiers' Monument, (sculpture).

Reniers, Peter Charles, 1825-1894, sculptor.

Morganroth, Louis, architect.

Pauley, George, architect.

Schmertz, Robert W., b. 1898, architect.

Soldiers' Monument, (sculpture).

Dedicated May 30, 1871. Relocated 1931.

Digital Reference:

Massillon stone.

Figure: approx. H. 11 1/2 x 5 x 5 ft.; Column: approx. 51 1/2 x 36 ft. Diam. 6 ft.

(Across bottom of base:) VICKSBURG APPOMATTOX ANTIETAM GETTSBURGH (Base, beneath seal:) 1861-1865

Colossal figure of Fame mounted on a tall column base. On the front of the base is the state seal of Pennsylvania and a eagle.

History -- United States -- Civil War

Architecture -- Detail -- Column

Figure female -- Full length

Allegory -- Quality -- Grandeur

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh

Administered by City of Pittsburgh, Citiparks, Department of Public Works, 611 Second Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222

Located West Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Formerly located Monument Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania through 1929

Inscription in pavement in front of monument reads: ERECTED TO THE MEM[ORY] OF/THE 4,000 BRAVE MEN OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY WHO FELL/IN THE GREAT STRUGGLE TO/MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF/OUR UNION. THE EYE OF GOD/RESTS UPON THEIR GRAVES EVEN/WHN UNMARKED BY MAN. AND/THEIR SLEEPING DUST SHALL/ARISE IN THE MORNING OF/THE RESURRECTION. Another inscription pavement reads: WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE/WITH CHARITY FOR ALL WITH FIRMNESS/IN THE RIGHT. LET US FINISH/THE WORK WE ARE IN TO BIND/UP THE NATION'S WOUNDS TO CARE/FOR (...illegible) WHO SHALL HAVE BORNE/THE BATTLE. AND FOR HIS WIDOW/AND HIS ORPHANS, TO DO ALL WHICH/MAY ACHIEVE AND CHERISH A JUST/AND LASTING PEACE AMONG/OURSELVES AND WITH ALL NATIONS. LINCOLN

The original monument was modified in ca. 1895 by constructing a 10 x 50 ft. fortress-like foundation with four Civil War canons at each corner. The piece also contained four figures of the armed services as well as bas-reliefs representing Faith, Hope, Charity and Justice. The piece was dismantled and removed during a 1929 redevelopment program. Later, the Pittsburgh Art Commission approved a thirty-three thousand dollar removal and redesign project (carried out by George Pauley and Robert Schmertz), and in 1931 it was placed in its present location. The figure of Fame and the parts of the original spire on which it sits are all that now remain. Related information and photographs of original installation are available in the records of the Art Commission of the City of Pittsburgh at the Carnegie-Mellon Architecture Archives. IAS files contain related information from "Story of Old Allegheny City," Pittsburgh: Allegheny Centennial Committee, 1941, pg. 159-163.

Evert, Marilyn, "Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture," Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983, pg. 22-23.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, PA0149, 1989.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania Survey, 1995.

Evert, Marilyn, "Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture," Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983, pg. 53-55.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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